media

[T]he film exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.

In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65% of women and girls have disordered eating behaviors.

As two midwifery students coming into SACHA for placement, we were thrilled to take part in the Take Back the Night preparations; part of that included going to CHCH 11 to watch Lenore the director at SACHA speak on “Square Off” to inform the community about this historic night.

We were expecting Lenore to inform the community about what Take Back the Night is all about, but instead, she was left defending women’s right to create a women-identified only space. From our perspective, Lenore was unfairly cornered by two news anchors and a columnist from Ottawa. The part that really surprised me was that as media, you would expect CHCH 11 to have a responsibility to bring up why this event exists, what it was for and to help promote this cause to the community – allowing more people to be aware and get involved.Continue reading